Tens of thousands of women marched across Europe, Latin America and Asia on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day, calling for equal pay, an end to gender-based violence, and expanded rights for women around the world, the Associated Press reported. In Berlin, an estimated 20,000 people attended the march — double the number police had anticipated — while demonstrations drew large crowds in Santiago, São Paulo, Madrid and dozens of other cities.
The 2026 commemorations carried particular urgency in Chile, where marchers rallied days before the scheduled inauguration of far-right president-elect José Antonio Kast, and in Brazil, where outrage over an alleged gang rape in Rio de Janeiro galvanized demonstrators.
The annual observance, marking its 115th year, is officially recognized by the United Nations and celebrated as a public holiday in more than 20 countries. This year’s theme, “Give to Gain,” emphasized fundraising for women’s organizations and less tangible forms of support such as mentorship and peer education. Organizers in multiple countries said they viewed 2026 as a critical moment for women’s rights globally.
Women across the globe gathered Sunday to mark International Women’s Day, with demonstrations in dozens of cities on five continents calling for equal pay, an end to gender-based violence, and expanded rights, the Associated Press reported. In Berlin, an estimated 20,000 people attended the march — double the number police had anticipated, according to the German news agency dpa — while in Chile, Spain and Brazil tens of thousands more rallied in major cities.
The 2026 commemorations marked the 115th year of International Women’s Day under the theme “Give to Gain,” which emphasized fundraising for women’s organizations and other forms of support such as mentorship and peer education. Speakers at the Berlin march decried violence against women in Germany and gender discrimination more broadly.
Chile marches ahead of far-right inauguration
In Santiago and other Chilean cities, tens of thousands gathered with heightened urgency: far-right president-elect José Antonio Kast was scheduled to be inaugurated Wednesday in what the Associated Press described as the country’s most pronounced shift to the right since the end of military dictatorship.
“With Kast taking office in three days and with everything that is happening internationally, the Yankee offensive against the peoples of Latin America, we feel that this year’s march shouldn’t be just another one,” said Yamila Martínez, a 31-year-old warehouse worker, in an interview with the Associated Press.
Brazil marches driven by alleged rape case
In Brazil, Sunday’s demonstrations served as a rallying cry against gender-based violence, fueled by the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana neighborhood. The case, which took place in January, drew national attention during the week of March 8 when four suspects handed themselves over to authorities. At least 15 protests were planned across the country, with organizers calling for the defense of women’s lives and an end to femicide, the AP reported.
Spain and cross-border solidarity
Tens of thousands marched in Spain’s major cities calling for equality, an end to violence against women, and solidarity with women in conflict zones including Afghanistan and the Middle East. At a march in Madrid, Khadija Amin, an Afghan journalist, voiced cross-border solidarity with Iranian and Afghan women.
“Our struggle is together with the women, both Iranian and Afghan. In this struggle, we are together. And we will fight for our rights, and they also need to know that we support them from Afghanistan,” Amin said.
Pakistan briefly detains activists
Police in Pakistan’s capital briefly detained several women’s rights activists when they attempted to hold a rally in defiance of a government ban on public gatherings imposed over security concerns stemming from a surge in militant violence in the country. The detainees were later released, officials and witnesses said. Organizers shared videos on social media showing some of the activists inside a police vehicle in Islamabad.
Aurat March, a network of women’s rights activists, said in a statement that participants had been peacefully exercising their right to protest. “We strongly condemn the arrests of Aurat March participants and organizers,” the statement read.
Voices from Gaza and Ecuador
Palestinian women in Gaza City described lives upended by war. “We woke up at six to wait for the water trucks. We go to the charity kitchen and wait in line,” said Wisal Badawi, as she joined other women carrying jerrycans and empty pots waiting for food and water. “The Palestinian woman is suffering.”
In Puyo, an Amazonian town in Ecuador, members of various Indigenous groups marched in traditional clothing to protest environmental degradation and oil and gas expansion on their lands.
“Today is about reporting to the world about the violation of rights that us Indigenous women have to endure — specifically the rights to nature,” said Ruth Peñafiel, 59, from the Kichwa community in the northern Amazon. “We want to live in a healthy environment and in harmony with the forest, so we are asking for respect and that public policies for nature are put in place.”
In Lima, Peru, a 5-kilometer race drew some 7,500 participants to commemorate the day.
U.S. event targets Epstein legacy
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, advocates organized by Women’s March rallied outside Zorro Ranch, the property where the late financier Jeffrey Epstein allegedly sexually abused and trafficked underage girls and young women. Relatives of Virginia Giuffre, who accused Britain’s Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by Epstein, spoke at the event alongside other activists.
“This weekend, we are taking action because the same systems that shield powerful abusers at home are the ones perpetuating violence abroad,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March. “The years-long cover-up and protection of Jeffrey Epstein’s allies and co-conspirators exposed a culture of impunity that tells survivors their pain is negotiable when powerful men are involved.”
Origins of the observance
The idea for an international women’s day originated with the American Socialist Party in the United States in 1909 and was advanced to a global stage at an international conference of socialist women held in Copenhagen in 1910. The United Nations began commemorating the holiday in 1975, which was International Women’s Year, and its General Assembly officially recognized the day two years later. International Women’s Day is now an official holiday in more than 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia and Cuba — the only country in the Americas where it carries that status. In the United States, March is observed as Women’s History Month.